


Double Trouble 2 : First Sight

by iamgizy (saddle_tramp)



Series: Resist 'Verse [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-02-16
Updated: 2009-02-16
Packaged: 2017-10-15 17:16:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/163058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saddle_tramp/pseuds/iamgizy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Double Trouble is a series of stories Jenn (Gwionfawyr) and I wrote together after I finished Resist. We had a lot more that will never see the light of day with anyone but us, but some of them we posted and shared.</p><p>Rating: PG-13 for language<br/>Pairing: None<br/>Summary:<br/>Harry and Draco are out and about after midnight and run into two other boys.<br/>Note:<br/>Part of the Double Trouble series set in our Resist 'verse, an AU in which Harry and Draco are both Malfoy-Snapes and consider themselves to be brothers even though they know they're not related by blood.</p><p>Before you read this, read Resist and Bubble, Bubble.  It'll make a lot more sense.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Double Trouble 2 : First Sight

 

Harry was roused from a sound sleep by a sudden flare of light. He scrunched his eyes closed and untangled one arm from the blankets to cover his eyes, almost immediately beginning to drift off to sleep again. He didn't see the flare of light again a few moments later or he might have been a bit better prepared when Draco suddenly pounced on him, landing on Harry's belly and sending all of his breath out in a whoosh.

Harry jerked his arm off of his eyes and blinked blearily up at Draco, trying to wake up enough to make out Draco's face in the flickering light from their fireplace. "Dray," he mumbled, "wha're you doing?"

Draco lowered his head until their noses were almost touching, his silver eyes sparkling with mischief and good humor. "I can't sleep and I'm _starving_. Let's go get a snack." His expression turned pleading with surprising swiftness, his eyes widening a bit. "Please?"

Harry groaned and closed his eyes, knowing he couldn't tell his brother no if he could see Draco's very convincing version of 'puppy-dog' eyes. "Call Dobby, you know he'll be happy to get you a snack."

"I don't want _him_ to get me a snack," Draco replied, smirking as he sat up and debated tickling Harry, sure that would get him to agree if he wasn't going to let the pleading look work. "I'm bored and want for _us_ to go get it."

"So you go," Harry replied firmly, keeping his eyes closed. "I don't want to be grounded again, term just started."

Draco made a face and watched Harry until he thought his brother was mostly asleep. He carefully tugged at the covers where they were tucked snugly around his brother after a few minutes, grinning when Harry didn't react to the blankets being pulled away. He started tickling Harry's ribs as soon as he had the covers low enough, causing Harry to let out a muffled little squeak.

Harry started squirming, his eyes snapping open as tried to grab Draco's hands. "Draco! No fair, stop!"

"Say you'll come with me and I will," Draco replied, tickling Harry's armpit with one hand as he fended off Harry's attempts to stop him with the other.

"Okay, _okay_!" Harry gasped between spasms of laughter, trying to hold his elbows closer to his sides so Draco couldn't tickle him so easily. "I'll _go_!"

Draco settled back and smirked down at Harry, watching as he caught his breath. "It'll be fun, and after Mama made us miss dinner I bet you're just as hungry as me."

Harry gave Draco a dirty look, not wanting to admit that might be true. "Get off me and let's get it over with before I change my mind."

Draco grinned at Harry and then scrambled off the bed, walking quickly over towards the wardrobe. "It'll be _fun_ , don't be such a _worrywart_."

Harry threw back the blankets and sat up, giving Draco's back a bemused look as he reached for his glasses. "You always say that."

Draco grabbed Harry's robe and wadded it up as he turned and then tossed it at his brother, giving him a bright grin before he turned away again and reached for his own robe. "And I'm always right, we _do_ have fun."

Harry snorted as he looked down at the bundle of material in the firelight and untangled it. He stood up a moment later and shrugged into the black robe very similar to student robes except for the fact there was no crest on it. "Until we get caught."

"This time we won't get caught," Draco replied, turning towards Harry with a completely undaunted grin. "Mama and Papa were up late making sure all the Slytherins really went to bed, and Daddy just got home an hour ago, so they're _sure_ to sleep the rest of the night."

"You hope." Harry looked around for his slippers, moving to where they were by the couch and then stepping into them as he asked, "Where's Rupert?"

"He wanted out just after Dad got home." Draco buttoned his robe as he walked back over to the bed to pick up the wands on the bedside table, tucking his own away in his robes as he moved over to the couch to hand Harry's to him. "He was bored, too."

Harry took his wand, giving Draco a funny look. "Dray, how long have you been awake?"

"A while," Draco answered evasively. He started for the door, not really wanting to talk about the fact he hadn't been sleeping very well. Their mother kept worrying over Draco's insomnia and all of her fussing had made Harry worry too even though Sev assured them both that Lucius had never slept more than six hours a night in his life.

Harry sighed and followed his brother. Draco's tone made him sure he wouldn't get a better answer about how long he had been up, so after a moment he tried a slightly different track of questioning. "Why didn't you wake me up earlier? We could have played a game of chess or read another spellbook together or something."

"I _did_ wake you up, just now," Draco replied in a patient whisper as he opened the door to their room. "We can get another book to read while we're out, that's a _great_ idea."

Harry stifled the urge to groan and followed Draco out into the sitting room, wishing he'd kept his mouth shut as he whispered, "Great."

They began to make their way quickly towards the library, which had relocated itself to the second floor over the summer. "Mama's gonna kill us," Harry whispered suddenly as they left the main stairwell on the second floor ten minutes later. "You _know_ how she hates for us to sneak about. Filch is positively _dreadful_ to her when he catches us."

"He _won't,_ Harry. He'll be lurking about the Astronomy tower waiting to catch the snoggers, just like he does every term," Draco replied immediately, pausing at the corner to carefully scan the hallway beyond before he gave Harry a grin and then moved into the darkened corridor that was lined along one side with alcoves, some windowed and others containing simple wooden benches. "Even if he does catch us, Mama won't be angry. We're just on the way to the kitchens for a snack."

Harry snorted, giving the back of Draco's head a bemused look. "Dray, we live _in the dungeons_. The kitchens are also in the dungeons. Somehow, I don't think Mother _or_ Filch will believe that the _second floor_ is on the way to the kitchen."

"We have to go to the library too, of course. We need a book to read with our snack," Draco whispered back immediately, smirking over his shoulder at Harry and then looking back down the hallway.

A door that Draco was _sure_ hadn't been there a moment ago slowly opened in front of them then, and Draco ducked into one of the darker alcoves, dragging Harry with him. They watched from the shadows as a ginger-haired boy looked up and down the hallway, then stepped out into the hall, followed by another boy who was obviously his twin.

The two boys were dressed in the usual school uniform except for the fact they were wearing faded old black jeans instead of trousers. They appeared identical in every way except for a rather spectacular bruise darkening the second boy's cheek. The first boy was carrying a small lantern that was only just barely lit and looking unhappy and wary. The second boy was obviously angry, scowling as he looked around.

Harry and Draco gave each other a surprised look and then turned back towards the twins to see that the door they had emerged from had disappeared and the twins were nowhere to be seen. Draco looked at Harry again, gesturing towards the corridor with a questioning look, and Harry nodded quickly, his green eyes alight with curiosity.

The boys hadn't been allowed to go to the Sorting Feast earlier that night because they'd ruined their dress robes again, but they knew these two had to be first years. There hadn't been any twins at Hogwarts since the twin Ravenclaw girls that left school when they were six. First years out and about after midnight their very first night at Hogwarts was unusual enough, but _those_ twins had known of a secret passage and one of the boys looked as though he'd been in a fight, too, so they should be very interesting.

Draco checked the hallway again and then slipped out of the alcove with Harry following right at his heels as they soundlessly moved towards where they had seen the twins. The two boys were careful to keep to the shadows as much as possible, and had made it almost to the point they would be directly across from the door they'd seen when they heard a whisper from the next alcove. They both shrank back into the shadows along the wall, straining to listen.

"I _hate_ it here," a soft, angry voice muttered. "We should never have come."

"We had to, George, you know that," another voice replied, almost identical to the first except for the fact his voice was more resigned. "Mum would _never_ let us skive off school altogether, not after we got our Hogwarts letters."

Harry and Draco heard an angry noise and the sound of a hand slapping stone, and then the first voice said a bit more loudly, "It's not fair! Those idiots don't know anything _about_ us, Freddie, and they've already decided Kenny's right and we're freaks just because we sleep together!"

Harry was a bit surprised by that and looked at Draco, wide-eyed. He and Draco had slept together as long as he could remember and nobody ever commented on it. Draco paid no attention to Harry's questioning look, beginning to move carefully along the wall towards the alcove. He wanted to be able to watch the older boys talk.

Harry followed right behind Draco, easing around so he could also watch as the one evidently called Freddie said quietly, "We're _us,_ George. That's better than normal, remember? Who cares what they think?"

"The little blighter needs to learn to keep his mouth shut around me, and then I wouldn't care either," George replied, whirling away from the wall.

Draco froze at the edge of the alcove, watching the way the light of the twins' lantern made George's hazel eyes flash.

"If he and his friends want to say things about us," George went on angrily, "they'd best do it when I can't hear them, or _next time_ I'll do worse than break his nose."

"George, you _should_ have just ignored them," Freddie replied reasonably. Harry eased up behind Draco, watching over his brother's shoulder as the twin they could see seethed, breathing hard. "You heard that Jordan bloke didn't you? He didn't think that Kenny was right and said so."

"Jordan just hopes we'll side with him later," George replied with a sneer that looked decidedly unnatural on his face. "He's probably a poof--"

A door closed loudly further down the corridor then and George broke off as Draco and Harry lunged into the alcove. Draco whispered, "Shush!" as Harry grabbed the small lantern Freddie was holding and blew it out.

The twins gave the two much smaller boys decidedly distrustful looks but fell silent, listening.

Draco moved carefully back to the edge of the alcove, watching Professor McGonagall start down the hall in the opposite direction until she went out of sight around a corner. Draco stayed there listening for several more moments as brisk footsteps faded away, then he relaxed, turning back towards the twins.

"It was McGonagall," Draco whispered with a relieved grin, "she headed the other way."

"Who the hell are _you_ ?" George asked belligerently, taking a step towards Draco, who shrank back slightly. "Why were you listening to us?"

Harry moved quickly to get between George and Draco, giving George a wary look. "We live here, and we were on our way to the library, not spying on you. We don't even _know_ you."

"Live here?" Freddie echoed, looking surprised as he moved over to stand by George. "Are you the Malfoy-Snape boys?"

Draco smirked suddenly, his chin going up a bit as Harry grinned and nodded. "Yes," Draco replied, "I'm Draco and this is my brother, Harry."

Freddie looked at his twin, grinning as he said, "Percy said they're only nine but even worse about getting into trouble than _us_ , remember? Their mother's the Defense professor, she killed that wizard Voldie-whatsit years ago. _Mum_ says we're not supposed to talk to them, they're a bad influence."

"Ought to be fun to know then." George gave the boys a lingering but critical look before he asked suddenly, "Is it true you've had your wands since you were six?"

"Yep," Draco replied, his smirk widening as he pulled his wand and twirled it. "Mama didn't think we should because _she_ had to wait until she came to school to get her wand, but Papa got his when he was little and so did Dad, and Dad insisted we get ours too. It's a Malfoy tradition for the heir to get his wand for his sixth birthday."

"So why did you both get one?" George asked skeptically. "You can't both be the heir."

"Of _course_ we can," Draco replied as he put his wand away again with a flourish. "I'm the Malfoy heir and Harry's the Snape heir."

Freddie's eyebrows drew together in confusion. "I thought they both were one family now?"

" _Now_ , yeah," Draco replied with a grin, "but the Ministry insisted that we be named heirs to our separate bloodlines because the Snapes have all died out now except for Papa and Harry, and the Malfoys are down to just me, Dad, and two elderly cousins. There's nobody but Harry and I in direct line for the Malfoy and Snape estates, and Mum says that the Ministry doesn't want either of us to have both." He grinned impishly. "They're afraid we'll take over the world or something."

"Blimey, you're two _rich_ little buggers," George said, his eyes getting a little wide.

Draco nodded, his silver-blue eyes twinkling with amusement as Harry laughed and said, "No we're not! We don't have any money at _all_ , we're just the ones Papa says will get it once we're too old to enjoy it anymore."

George looked surprised by that as Freddie snickered and said, " _Finally_ , an adult who tells the truth! I think I'll like him."

"You'll get to find out," Harry replied, grinning. "He and our mother teach Potions."

"Both of them?!" Freddie exclaimed in surprise.

George barely waited for Freddie to close his mouth before he asked, "Who's teaching Defense then?"

"Uncle Remus," Draco answered, smirking. "Weren't you listening at the feast? It was supposed to be announced that Mum and Papa are going to share the teaching duties for Potions while they continue their research."

George shook his head. "Nah, we didn't pay much attention to Dumbledore, just clapped with everyone else."

Freddie made a face, adding, "Yeah, speeches are _boring_. You two know you'll have it way too easy once you start school, right? It's quite unfair that you not only get to grow up here, but you're related to _three_ of the professors, too."

Harry laughed at that and scoffed, "You're _mental_! Mum and Papa will expect us to be _perfect_ at Potions, and Uncle Remus will have us in the Defense club before we even get to our first class!"

Draco nodded, adding, "And then Daddy will _always_ be checking up on our grades because 'Malfoy-Snapes are always the best' and we'll _never_ get any peace. The only really great thing about starting school will be that we know all the best ways out of our dorm already, and the sixth year Slytherin with the Marauders Map, Mick, promised it to us when he graduates."

"How do you know what dorm you'll be in?" George asked, looking skeptical. "You've not been Sorted yet, have you?"

Draco smirked. "No, but there hasn't been a Malfoy sorted outside of Slytherin, ever."

"And the Snapes _always_ go into Slytherin or Ravenclaw," Harry added as soon as Draco finished.

"So maybe you'll wind up in Ravenclaw," Freddie said then. "Our oldest brother Bill told us your mother was a Ravenclaw, and Head Girl, too."

"I'm not smart enough to be stuck in Ravenclaw," Harry replied with a grin, making Draco snicker and nod. "Besides, I'm sure I can persuade the Sorting Hat to put me in Slytherin if it has any other bright ideas, I understand it's quite reasonable. Mama was almost Sorted as a Gryffindor, but she talked to it and got it to make her a Ravenclaw instead."

"We wanted to be Slytherins just to piss off Percy," George said then, "but the hat told me that I was way too Gryffindor for Slytherin, and then Freddie just wanted to be in the same House."

Draco snickered. "Dad says Gryffindors are braver than they are smart."

Freddie laughed, nodding as he moved away from his twin. "Sounds like Georgie alright!"

George smirked at Freddie. "You're a Gryffindor now too, dumbarse."

There was a loud crackling noise then and Dobby appeared next to them, looking stern. "Young Masters are in _much_ trouble! Master and Mistress found their bed empty, and sent Dobby to be finding the young Masters! Mistress says the young Masters aren't going to be seeing the light of day again until Hallowe'en!"

Freddie and George looked at each other wide-eyed as Harry blanched and looked at Draco. "See, Dray? I _knew_ she'd catch us." Harry sighed loudly, his shoulders slumping as he added, "She _always_ catches us."

"Mistress wants the young Masters to be returning _immediately_ ," Dobby added, shaking a finger at Harry and Draco. "Mistress and Master wait, and said to be hurrying and not to be getting caught by anyone else!"

"Dobby, is it Papa or Daddy that's waiting up with her?" Draco asked, his eyes a little wide.

"Master Lucius waits, and is not at _all_ happy." Both boys groaned and then Dobby added, "Master is _very_ cross, Dobby heard him saying that young Masters will be scrubbing floors again, and Mistress was saying that the Potions storage rooms were needing cleaned too!"

Draco looked like he might be sick at the very idea. Lucius invariably made them scrub lavatory floors when they got into really bad trouble, and with term starting the bathrooms were sure to get nasty quickly. Moaning Myrtle loved to back up the toilets on unsuspecting first years.

Harry was looking positively morose as he turned towards Freddie and George. "It was nice meeting you, but we have to go now."

Draco nodded without saying anything and Dobby added, "Young Masters _must_ be hurrying, too!"

Freddie gave them both a sympathetic look. "I hope you don't get into too much trouble."

"Even though it sounds like you already are," George added, giving the two younger boys a wry look. "We'll be around, maybe we'll see each other again."

Dobby fidgeted, tugging at Harry's robe as Harry nodded at George and said, "We will, as soon as Dray and I aren't grounded anymore. Maybe we can help you with your Potions homework, we're both good at them."

"Or Charms," Draco added, nodding. "We can do most everything up to third year stuff."

"Cool," Freddie said, grinning. "We'll definitely need the help, our Mum's a stickler and wouldn't let us learn any real magic at all."

"Young Masters must be going _now_ , Mistress calls Dobby!" Dobby exclaimed suddenly, pushing Harry and Draco out into the corridor and then popping out with a loud crackling noise.

Harry grabbed Draco's hand, waving to the twins with the other hand as he said, "Bye!" He started down the hall at a run, dragging an obviously reluctant Draco along behind him.

Freddie and George watched them until the two boys went out of sight around a corner, and then they looked at each other. "Were they just holding hands like little girls?" George asked. Freddie nodded and George looked thoughtful a moment before he said, "Well, their parents _are_ sort of queer. Maybe they just don't know any better."

Freddie looked at his twin for a long moment and then suddenly turned away to start down the hall. "Maybe they're just smart enough not to care."

George looked surprised by that and stared at Freddie's retreating back for a long moment before he hurried to catch up. He hoped Freddie wasn't really angry with him. School was awful enough without Freddie being upset, too.

 

~*~*~*~*~

 

Harry entered the Malfoy-Snape quarters with Draco at his heels a bit more than five minutes after they left the twins, both of them breathing hard from running most of the way. Harry was surprised to see there was nobody waiting for them until he saw that the door to their room was open and the candles were lit. Harry and Draco exchanged an unhappy look and slowly crossed the room, pausing at the door as they spotted Lily standing by the fire alone.

Draco was just beginning to hope that Lucius had gone back to bed when he heard his dad's voice say, "Quit _lurking_ at the door and get in here." Lucius was seated in the armchair in front of the fireplace, his tone and expression both stern as he leaned to look at them and added, "Sit on the couch, boys."

Harry and Draco hurried into the room and moved to sit on the couch.

Lily turned to look at them, her mouth pursed in annoyance. "Where have you two been?"

"We went to get something to read," Harry replied quickly.

Draco bit his lower lip and then added, "It was my idea."

"Why weren't you in bed?" Lucius asked, frowning at them both. "It's nearly two in the morning."

"I couldn't sleep," Draco said, looking down at his knees. "I was hungry so I woke Harry up to go with me to get a snack 'cause we're not supposed to be out in the castle alone, and then on the way there Harry said I should read if I wasn't sleepy, so we decided to get a book, too."

Luc's frown deepened as he gave the boys a very disapproving look, obviously thinking over what to say.

"Draco," Lily said with a frown of her own, "I've asked you to take your potion on nights you can't sleep. You shouldn't be roaming about."

Lucius looked at Lily in surprise. "You knew Draco's been having trouble sleeping?"

"Yes love, I did," Lily replied, nodding. "He's been awake half the night as often as not the last few months. Sev made a batch of Dreamless Sleep for Poppy a few weeks ago though, and I gave Draco a bottle that we diluted enough that it would just help him fall asleep. I hadn't caught him up at night again until now, so I thought he was taking it."

Lucius turned back to Draco, concerned. "Is anything wrong, Draco?"

"No, Daddy, _honestly_. I just don't sleep like I'm supposed to," Draco replied earnestly, trying hard not to cry because he knew it would just upset everyone if he did. "I _try_ to, but I always wake up and then I can't go back to sleep."

Lucius just looked at Draco for a few minutes, thinking, then turned to Lily. "Perhaps it's time to get separate beds moved in here for them. When we were younger Sev used to wake me up, moving about at night. I never could get back to sleep, either." Lucius smirked at his wife suddenly then, not noticing Draco's unhappy expression. "Well, not without waking him up..."

Lily giggled slightly. "That's just a bit different, Luc, and you were much older than they are."

Harry broke in then and said quickly, "I don't mind, Daddy, _really_. After we read a bit or get a snack or something he can usually sleep."

"I'll stop waking Harry up," Draco added as he grabbed Harry's hand, chin trembling slightly. "I'll just lay still and be quiet when I can't sleep. We don't need new beds, I _promise_. I'll be good."

Lucius sighed and moved over to sit next to Draco, reaching out to rub Draco's back. "Separate beds isn't a _punishment,_ Draco, it's to help you sleep better. All children your age sleep alone, it's perfectly normal."

"But I don't _want_ to be normal," Draco said softly.

"Why not?" Lucius asked, looking surprised.

"I don't like to be alone." Draco answered, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Me either," Harry agreed, obviously unhappy even though he wasn't on the edge of tears like Draco.

Lily walked over to kneel in front of the couch, reaching out to take Draco and Harry's hands. "You won't be alone at all, you'll just be in separate beds so you don't wake each other up. You'll still be right here in the same room."

"I'll _freeze_ to death," Draco whined softly, blinking back tears.

Lucius chuckled, sliding an arm around Draco's shoulders. "No you won't, you'll be fine."

Harry looked past Draco at Lucius, his green eyes wide and unhappy. "But he gets _really_ cold sometimes when he's been awake a while, Daddy, and it takes _forever_ for him to warm up."

"So we'll put a warming spell on Draco's bed," Lily responded, giving the boys encouraging smiles. "You'll _like_ having your own beds after you get used to it, I'm sure of it. It'll be nice having plenty of room to stretch out and not having to move somebody so you can go use the loo."

"That sounds like personal experience speaking," Lucius said, giving Lily a surprised but amused look.

Lily smiled up at her husband, her green eyes sparkling with sudden amusement. "No, love, I quite enjoy the company."

"So do we!" Draco insisted, looking pleadingly at his mother. "Don't make us sleep apart, Mama, we'll be _lonely_."

Lily sighed and her smile faded, looking at Draco as Harry added, "And if we're lonely we won't be able to _sleep_."

"You'll _have_ to have separate beds once you start school," Lucius pointed out, looking at Draco and then at Harry. "That's only two years away. Wouldn't you rather get used to it before then?"

"Why do we have to have separate beds then?" Draco asked, not even thinking as he added, "The twins don't."

Lily looked surprised. "And just exactly what _twins_ are you talking about?"

"Nobody," Harry said quickly, giving Draco a quelling look before he looked back at his mother, his green eyes wide and full of what he hoped was enough sincerity to convince her. "We just thought twins would get to sleep together, since they always have, and they want to, and they don't care who makes fun of them, and--" Lily's eyebrows had been climbing higher with every word and Harry finally realized it as he said quickly, "And I'm going to be quiet now."

" _Harry_ ," Lily asked in a half-scolding tone, "were the Weasley twins out roaming the corridors tonight?"

"I didn't see anyone named Weasley," Harry answered quickly, relieved.

"How about anyone named _Fred_ or _George_?" Lily asked, looking stern.

Harry didn't answer immediately but it was only a moment before Draco said, "Mama, don't tell anyone, they were just getting away from a boy who hit George."

Lily blinked. " _Hit_ him? Did George say why they were fighting?"

"Someone named Kenny was making fun of them for sleeping together," Draco replied softly. "He said they weren't normal, just like Daddy said about us, and George hit him."

"I didn't say your weren't normal," Lucius said quickly, looking surprised.

"Actually you sort of did, love," Lily said, giving Lucius an apologetic look.

"It's okay," Harry said, looking more confident than he sounded. "I agree with Freddie. _He_ thinks that being with George is better than being normal."

"It's a bit different for them, though," Lily said, looking at Harry. "They're twins."

"How is that different from us?" Draco asked, looking confused. "We're not _really_ twins but we might as well be. We're brothers, and the same age, and we've always been together. Why can't we just _stay_ together?"

Lucius chuckled. "He's got you there, baby. You let him talk you into a corner. Again."

Lily gave Lucius a bemused look and then looked at the boys a moment before she sighed and stood, letting go of their hands. "You can continue sleeping together for now, _if_ you stop roaming about after curfew, but at the beginning of next term you'll get separate beds. That gives you an entire year to get used to the idea. I don't want _any_ arguing when the time comes, understand?"

"Yes ma'am," Harry and Draco answered together, both relieved even though they knew they wouldn't like having separate beds later either.

Lucius stood as well, giving the boys a stern look as he added, "And you needn't waste time hoping your mother will forget, since she'll have _me_ to help her remember."

"To bed with you both now," Lily said firmly, pointing towards the bed. Both boys stood, unbuttoning their robes as they walked towards the bed, and after a moment Lily added, "Hurry up now, I've got to be up in --" She paused to glance at the clock on the mantle. "Three hours! Get yourselves in bed this _instant_."

Harry draped his robe across the foot of the bed and then moved to put his wand on the bedside table, glancing up as Draco started to climb into bed. "Dray, your wand."

Draco paused halfway into bed and reversed direction to move back the foot of the bed and his own robe, digging through the pockets for a moment before he came up with it. He tossed the wand to Harry and then scrambled back to the head of the bed. "Sorry, Harry. I forgot."

Harry put Draco's wand on the bedside table, then took off his glasses and climbed into bed too as he replied, "S'okay, you always forget."

Lily giggled, moving towards Harry's side of the bed. "Draco, have I told you recently that you're just like your Daddy?"

Draco nodded, smiling and watching as Lily bent to kiss Harry's cheek. "All the time, Mama."

Lucius snorted, not sure if he was being complimented or not since the boys were constantly in trouble, and Draco was usually the ringleader. He moved to tuck Harry in as Lily started around the bed towards Draco. "I want you boys to both go to sleep this time, and don't leave your room until Dobby wakes you in the morning. Do you understand me?"

"Yes sir," Harry and Draco answered in unison.

Lily kissed Draco's cheek as Harry looked solemnly up at Lucius and added, "I'll make sure Draco really sleeps this time, Daddy."

"Good," Lucius replied, leaning down to kiss Harry's forehead before he moved around the bed.

Lily went to the bathing room door to watch with a smile as Lucius tucked Draco in and kissed him good night. Lucius moved to join her at the door, and then turned to look at the boys while Lily gave them both a stern look and said, "And you needn't think we've forgotten your punishment either, boys. Dobby will supervise it tomorrow after you finish your lessons."

Harry and Draco both groaned. They had sort of hoped punishing them had been forgotten.

Lucius grinned and said, "Lights!" The candelabra that hung from the ceiling in the center of the room went out, leaving the room in sudden darkness other than the light of the fire and what was coming through the bathing room door. Lucius guided Lily into the bathroom as he added cheerfully, "Sleep well! Scrub brushes will be calling your names soon enough."

Lily giggled and called over her shoulder, "Good night, boys. I'll see you at lunch!"

Lucius closed the bathroom door then, leaving the room in darkness.

It was completely silent in Harry and Draco's room for several minutes before Draco suddenly rolled over. He squirmed around a bit to get comfortable on his stomach with one arm folded on his pillow, resting his cheek on it and then reaching with the other hand to take Harry's hand in his. "G'night, Harry."

Harry smiled and squeezed Draco's hand. "Good night, Dray. Now go to sleep."

"I will this time, I promise," Draco replied, nodding slightly.

Harry gave Draco's hand another squeeze instead of saying anything in reply, and it was only a few moments before he was sound asleep.

Draco silently watched Harry sleep for a long while before he finally drifted off, still worrying over how he would be able to stand it when he had to sleep alone.

 

 

~ End


End file.
